Day Tripping

Before I tell you about yesterday - let me say, thank you for all of the wonderful anniversary wishes.  We had a great day!

We rose early and tended to morning chores as the sun was nearing the horizon.

Because we were leaving the dogs for the day, we wanted to give them a little extra exercise.  Luckily, Forrest is not limping, so we decided on a woods walk.  With the sun rising behind us,

casting long shadows in front of us...

and a misty fog lying low on the hills to our left, we entered the cool, dark woods.

The dogs went off exploring, as they always do, as we walked along looking for mushrooms.

  It's definitely the beginning of autumn mushroom season.  With the rains of late summer, the ground is now ripe for fungal fruiting bodies - and we saw many of them...

in lovely colors,

different sizes,

and shapes.

Twins!

As we walked along the woodsy trail, the sun filtered through the canopy and the woods gradually became brighter.

By the time we exited, the sun was blazing, and another hot day had begun.  

Our last stop was the pond so that Forrest could cool down with a swim.  Swimming also tires him out a little.

With all of the animals fed and watered and exercised, we headed out on a little anniversary adventure to the small Pocono mountain town of Jim Thorpe (a two hour drive from home).   

This adorable town, previously called Mauch Chunk was re-named after the 1912 Native-American Olympic gold medalist (two medals - pentathlon and decathlon) - after the town purchased his remains from his third wife and erected a tomb and monument in his honor.  According to Wikipedia, this transaction was an effort to boost tourism in the tiny town that had once been home to railroad magnates who cashed in on the area's booming coal business.  Personally (and in error) I had always assumed that the town was so-named because Jim Thorpe was from that town.  He was not.  Rather, he was born on a Sac and Fox reservation in Oklahoma to a Native-American mother and Irish father.

The town, itself, has a sort of European look to it.  There is a definite Victorian influence in much of the architecture.  After exploring a little, our first stop was a bakery for chai tea and sweets which we consumed on their adorable back patio.

The town is full of adorable shops and eateries.  Sadly, most of the shops are open later in the week - and not on Tuesdays.  

Still, our day was filled - a stop by the visitor's center/train station to learn a little more about the town.  The movie, The Molly Maguire's (starring Sean Connery) was filmed in town.  

We boarded a trolley for a tour of the town and surrounding area - the trolley driver/tour guide was quite a colorful and comical chap full of local folk-lore - some of which we realized later bordered on tall tales.  But, it made for quite the interesting tour.

And the scenery wasn't bad at all!

We finished off our day with a meal at The Inn, a hotel from 1849 - and headed back home to our dogs and critters.  Many thanks to our friends/neighbors, Jim and Kathy for taking the dogs outside throughout the day and for feeding our critters in the afternoon!

Jim Thorpe is a town that we will visit again - on a day when businesses are open for sure, but also to take our bikes and enjoy the long, scenic Lehigh Gorge rail trail that cuts through the area.